US Soccer Aiming To Hire

Many are asking if and when the US Men’s National Soccer Team will actually hire a manager considering that it’s been a year since the US bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup was put on the shelf.

It only took a short three days following the loss that Bruce Arena stepped down as the manager having many asking was it the loss or did other reasons force the issue?

Dave Sarachan has the title of “Interim Coach” has things running smooth and despite the fact that they have been through seven rounds of training camps along with some “Friendlies”, its reported that to some there seems to be a form of confusion around the entire process of getting a replacement.

This is no real difference than the local MLS Vancouver Whitecaps who recently released Carl Robinson who was replaced by Craig Dalrymple and managed to pull off a win over Toronto FC this past weekend.

So back to the US squad some are asking what is taking so long, what style of manager are they looking for and how does or will this affect the personality of the team?

I am hearing that they were under the impression or thought process that once a new U.S. Soccer Federation President was elected the search for a new coach would soon follow.

The election of Carlos Cordeiro as USSF president soon gave way to the search for the first GM of the U.S. men’s national team.

The hiring of Earnie Stewart happened two months ago and to date they still have no team manager in place, although he (Stewart) spent the first few months having discussion with various stakeholders in the soccer world so as a way in which to develop his profile.

They are looking at a more aggressive style of coach who “takes no guff” and demands perfection both on and off the pitch, so it’s still a wait and see situation.

It’s reported that U.S. Soccer has begun to conduct interviews and that he (Stewart) has the target date set for Nov. 1st of this year to have his selected candidate on board.

It’s interesting to know that three players for the Series “Friendlies” against both Colombia and Peru get their first sample of the senior team camp as it hits the turf in Tampa.

Here’s a few things to know about the MNT newbie trio of Jonathan Amon (pictured above), Reggie Cannon and Ben Sweat.

JONATHAN AMON (19) calls Charleston South Carolina and is the youngest of the three  and was recently involved in the National Team setup

during the Youth Summit.

He is following in the footsteps of his brother Joseph, who was teammates with both midfielders Kellyn Acosta and Paul Arriola at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

He (Jonathan) first took part of the U.S. program playing for the Development Academy and participated in his first at the U-14 level.

While attending Charleston he was first scouted by Danish scout Amon managing to recruit him to attend Copenhagen’s Kies School which is a sports boarding school.

He moved when he was 15 and was noticed by Nordsjaelland, who invited him to train with the club outside of school, but because of his age it restricted his signing until he turned 18 years of age.

Cannon has had an interesting season while appearing in each of the Western Conference 30 matches this campaign and was fortunate to win back-to-back US Soccer Development Academy Championships (2015 – 2016) prior to heading to UCLA managing to play for only one season signing with the Bruins after his freshman year with FCD, but was next in line to Argentine defender Hernan Grana.

Ben Sweat (27) is the veteran of MNT taking a while to make the senior team, his path to get here should make it all the more rewarding and feels at home.

He calls Palm Harbor home playing left back for Chargers Soccer Club of the US Soccer Development Academy a local college at the University of Southern Florida while playing at the pro level (2015-16) with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

He was first selected by the Columbus Crew in the 2014 MLS Super Draft, but never gained hold playing with the club’s USL affiliate in Dayton this past season.

Looking for regular playing time, the left back rejuvenated his career with the hometown Rowdies for two seasons before earning a contract with New York City FC in 2017.

The US program is on the road to success, but first it’s getting the ball and scoring in the not to distant future.